Here’s another example incorporating a back wall to the artwork. Sure he could have stretched the piece over a long space of sidewalk to play with our perception, but by creating this ad for Celebrity Cruises with a back wall, the drawing looks right no mater what angle you view it from.

Of course, he doesn’t incorporate backdrops into artworks that don’t need them. In fact, adding a background to this reflecting pool illusion might actually distract from the amazing likeness of the actors portrayed in the sidewalk.

If you need further proof that Wenner is certainly one of the masters of his craft, consider the fact that he was the first 3D chalk artist to conceive of an interactive chalk drawing as seen in this photograph from 1987.

Zip-lining across a city street can be fun, but it’s nothing compared to flying across wild terrain. For those that don’t have the time or money to get away from it all though, Wenner offers a grand compromise with this gorgeous canyon advertising the beauty of wild British Columbia.

For more great works by Kurt Warner, don’t miss this piece in the Telegraph, or just visit his website.

For their front cover design (scroll further down), a photograph of the group traversing a zebra crossing, the photographer Iain Macmillan was given only ten minutes to take the photo whilst he stood on a step-ladder and a policeman held up the traffic. In the scene, the group walk across the street in single file from left to right, with Lennon leading, followed by Starr, McCartney, and Harrison. McCartney is barefoot.

It might be interesting to mention how to the left of the picture (parked next to the zebra crossing) is a white Volkswagen Beetle motor-car which belonged to one of the people living in the block of flats across from the recording studio. After the album was released, the number plate (LMW 281F) was stolen repeatedly from the car. The crossing is also a very popular destination for Beatles fans and there is even a webcam featuring it!

Few more examples of Gregor Wosik’s work:

Actors pose with gym equipment on what the Guinness World Records bills as the world’s largest 3D painting, at Canary Wharf in London (November, 2011)

This record-breaking drawing was created in London’s West India Quays, Canary Wharf, but even if you were in the city at the right time, the chances you got a glimpse of it are pretty slim…despite taking seven days to put up, it was removed the day after it was finished.

And as we mentioned comments, remember how I recently improved the discussion section with the ability for you to add pictures inside them? Well, as of recently it seems you have started using this option much more frequently. It provides me with great joy to see how people began contributing more intensely. For example, it seems there is a new trend among you – outlining solutions and posting related illusions directly inside your comments! This was my intention in the first place when I originally imagined this website! If at some point in the past you have asked yourself how come I rarely post solutions to the illusions – I secretly hoped in time our community will evolve and start contributing by itself. Seems we are on a right trail of reaching this right now. My next idea would be to add some kind of voting system to your comments, so that the best voted comments would jump up first. In time, I imagine it would come to that, that a particular comment holding the solution (image attachment or related illusion pic) would rank best. What do you think of this idea? (Just me brainstorming out loud…)

Update 07/06/2011 – Thanks to our dedicated fans we’ve managed to identify the author behind this monumental achievement. His name is François Abelanet and may find more photos here.

The lead artist behind this work is Tracy Lee Stum, who happens to hold a Guinness World Record for the largest chalk painting by a single individual (as opposed to the largest chalk drawing by a group, which is featured on Moillusions here). Yeah, she’s pretty impressively talented whether working with a group, like she did on this Mouse Trap project, or working alone, like she did on the record-winning Last Supper piece below.

So let’s see if I can fix this with today’s post! It appears the Swedish artist Erik Johansson has joined the pavement chalk-masters wagon with his incredible optical illusion in the center of Stockholm. It tricks you into believing that the giant hole has opened up in the middle of the main city square. The illusion measures 32 by 18 metres and is located in Sergels torg square. Check some of the shots as well as accompanying video after the jump:

I’ve always been quite fascinated by perspective illusions and some time ago I got an idea of trying to realize one in a public space. My idea was to put up a photo in an environment and actually trick people that it would have depth. Street illusions aren’t new, but I wanted to try and make it as a photo instead of a mere drawing – Johansson

While some of the passers-by haven’t even noticed the illusion, others who have had the luxury of viewing the huge illusion from above beforehand, seem to have had a lot of fun with it as the video below shows. Now why is it that every other 3d chalk drawing master ends up drawing holes in the pavement?

As for my interest in illusions, well, I’d say that stems from my fascination with art. After all, to some extent all visual art is an illusion being as how it is really just a pictorial representation of something else. Art revolves around one’s perception of the world around them and illusions are nothing more than selective use and distortion of perception.

That being said, I am a particularly big fan of mural art and when public works of art become illusions, the effect is simply fascinating. These particular examples come from the Bayview subway station in Toronto. They were created by Panya Clark Espinal. The most impressive aspect is their anamophic properties that ensure they can only be accurately perceived from specific angles.

That’s probably enough of an introduction for now, I’m sure we’ll get to know each other better as my time on the site goes on. I am greatly looking forward to sharing more great illusions with you and if you have any you’d like to share with me, please feel free to email me at contact@jillharness.com.

Also, a special thanks to Andrew Willman for the photos of the stair and ladder illusions.

Qi Xinghua says he has calculated three different formulas that can be applied on all paintings of varying sizes. He also added (quoted below):

To put it in the simplest way, it’s reversed vision, which is also called inverse-perspective. From our normal vision, nearby objects are big and far away ones are small. I use the opposite method to make far away objects big and close objects small. In this way, a two-dimensional painting turns three-dimensional.

Don’t ask me why, but I have a feeling we’ll be seeing much more of this artist’s creations in the coming weeks! Even after seeing so many awesome pavement drawings, I can’t seem to perceive below pavement as a flat surface. How about you?